Australian Immigration Daily News

Trying to navigate your way through the migration legislation can seem at times like finding your way through a maze! 

And this can be true even for experienced migration agents and migration lawyers. 

So it is no wonder that visa applicants who are trying to work their way through the process on their own can get tripped up by the complexities of the process, and, as a consequence, find that their visa entitlement to remain in Australia can be placed in jeopardy. 

Are the criteria for the grant of a Child visa (Subclass 101) overly stringent in the cases of children who are over 18 years old, but who remain financially dependent on their parents? 

Do the Migration Regulations recognise the reality of modern life, where many children who are over 18 may need time to “find themselves” – to discover what direction they would like to take in life, and to decide what vocational or academic studies would be most appropriate for them to take to reach their goals? 

Do the Regulations unreasonably restrict the reunification of financially dependent children with their parents?  Would it be appropriate to reform the Regulations  and make them less stringent, in order to facilitate family reunions? 

When you entered the migration advice profession, did you have any idea that your work might require you to explore and understand the obscure details of Australian business law? 

For example, to be able to analyse whether, in circumstances where the co-trustees of a family trust that conducts business activities, could be considered to be the “sole proprietor” of a business? 

The again, it probably didn’t occur to you that in trying to navigate the Migration Act and Regulations, you would be required to find your way through thickets of interpretation as seemingly difficult as trying to answer the question: “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” (The answer to that question, of course, is “As many angels as the Department or the Tribunal say, just so long as the client is found to satisfy the criteria for the grant of the visa!!”. 

Would you like to be able to give your clients an example of why a registered migration agent can be invaluable to the process of preparing a visa application? 

Of why the application process is “not as simple and straightforward as it seems”? 

Of why that old truism that: “the devil is in the details” is actually a truism that is true when it comes to the Australian migration legislation?  

Quiz time! 

That’s right! Just because everyone is stumbling back to work from the long weekend, there is no excuse for not answering! Not even if you are a loyal follower of the Western Bulldogs or the Cronulla Sharks and are seriously hung over from too much celebrating! (As for myself, I remain “clueless” about both rugby and AFL after nearly 15 years in Australia, but at least I deserve some credit for being (vaguely!!!!) aware that the Bulldogs and Sharks both won their Grand Finals (thanks only to SBS!)). 

And if my poor son has to suffer through the HSC exams in the next few weeks, then the least that could happen is that the migration profession should be subjected to this quiz, right!!